FIDE To Launch Official Chess960 Rating System

Chess960, Fischer Random, Freestyle, whatever you want to call it, is getting its own official FIDE rating system.

The game's governing body has approved a new separate rating for the variant with varying names, with the system to be developed and implemented by June 1, 2027.

The decision was taken at the FIDE General Assembly in Samarkand during last month's Chess Olympiad.

FIDE said the move responds to the "continued growth of the variant" and the need for an official competitive rating framework. The proposal came jointly from the federations of Germany, Iceland, Norway, Ireland and the Faroe Islands, FIDE reported.

From Fischer Random to Freestyle

Chess960 was popularised by former World Champion GM Bobby Fischer as a way of reducing the importance of opening preparation.

The pieces on the back rank are shuffled—with certain restrictions—to create 960 possible starting positions, forcing players into unfamiliar territory almost immediately.

More recently, the format has been promoted as Freestyle Chess by the German businessman-turned-FIDE presidential candidate Jan Henric Buettner. Freestyle has attracted many of the world's leading players, with GM Magnus Carlsen among its most prominent supporters.

In February, Carlsen won the first official FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, an event hosted by Buettner and under the auspices of FIDE in Weissenhaus, Germany. It was Carlsen's 21st world title.

In truth, the tournament was a rebranded edition of a title that already existed. A FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship had previously been held in 2019 and 2022. GM Wesley So won the inaugural and GM Hikaru Nakamura was the last champion going into this year's "Freestyle" version.

But there is still a question over how deep that popularity really runs.

The heavily promoted elite events have attracted star names, major prize funds and audiences, but Chess960 has existed for decades without anything approaching the participation levels of conventional chess.

The Week in Chess editor Mark Crowther has been among those sceptical about whether the latest push will translate into widespread enthusiasm among ordinary players.

An official rating system could therefore provide an interesting test. Rather than measuring the audience for an invitational packed with super-grandmasters, FIDE will eventually be able to see how many players actually want to compete in rated Chess960 tournaments.

How will the rating work?

For now, we don't know.

FIDE has not revealed how Chess960 ratings will be calculated, which tournaments will qualify or how players will receive their initial ratings.

The General Assembly has simply ordered that the system be "elaborated and implemented" by June 1 next year. Full documentation is expected later.

The move comes as FIDE experiments more broadly with the boundaries of its traditional rating system.

Earlier this year, FIDE and World Chess announced the First Rating Experiment, a proposed scheme allowing players without an existing FIDE rating to earn their first official over-the-board rapid or blitz rating through verified online play.

Under that proposal, eligible online results would undergo identity and anti-cheating checks before being converted using a coefficient designed to reflect equivalent over-the-board playing strength. The initial rating would be capped at 1800.

The methodology remains under consultation rather than being a final change to FIDE's rating regulations.

The two projects are very different.

But together they show FIDE experimenting with what an official chess rating can cover—and how players can acquire one.

Classical, rapid and blitz already have their own FIDE rating lists. Chess960 is next.